Ryanne Molinari

An Active & Imaginative Life

April 3, 2015

On Senioritis (and also brownies)

Upon entering this year, I thought that I was prepared to face that dread combination of restlessness, fatigue, and frustration that has been plaguing high school seniors since the dawn of time (or at least the dawn of secondary education). I was wrong and realize now, having forsaken productivity for a few hours to breathe for the first…

Recipes for Readers

brownies, class of 2015, coconut oil, delicious, easy brownies, graduation, high school, literature, remedy, senior year, senioritis, stress relief, yum
March 28, 2015

Perplexingly Postmodern

Sometimes reading postmodern literature is like reading those texts where people just type the first words their iPhone suggests… For instance, compare the authorship of: 1) My iPhone and that of a friend: 2) A revered postmodern author: Oddly similar…yet only one is deemed worthy of annotations! Disclaimer: I honestly do have appreciation…

Literature, Musings

annotations, AP Literature, beloved, iphone humor, literature, postmodern
March 13, 2015

A Caution to Writers

Dear fellow writers, Should you ever decide to change perspective halfway through your novel’s draft, do not use Word’s “Find and Replace” feature because otherwise when you try to change “I” (the pronoun) to your character’s name (Paige, in this instance), you might find every letter “I” replaced with her name. Oops. That Paiges a serPaigeous…

Scribblings

author, first draft, NaNoWriMo, novel, oops, typing, word, writing
March 1, 2015

7 Steps to Overcoming a Haircut Crisis: by Rapunzel, Anne, Jo, and Me

“It looks so good!” gushes the stylist. You nod vaguely, but inside you’re screaming, “Since when does ‘two inches’ mean ‘take it all’?” You came in wanting a simple trim (freshen up the layers, cut the split-ends, the usual), but one ambitious beautician and several pairs of scissors later you’re sitting open-mouthed in a nest…

Bookish Style

Anne of Green Gables, bad haircut, Book, bookish, bookish style, bookworm, characters, Disney, fictional, hair, haircut, hairstyle, jo march, literature, Little Women, rapunzel, Reading, style, tangled
February 26, 2015

Sophisticated Simplicity

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ― Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci is remembered as one of the most ingenious men to have walked the earth. Even those unfamiliar with art recognize his name as the painter of the “Mona Lisa” and the innovator of ideas ahead of his time. And yet, this man, the epitome…

Musings

Anne of Green Gables, AP Literature, Art, author, beauty, chopin, essay, john green, leonardo da vinci, literature, lm montgomery, lyrics, Music, simple beauty, simplicity, song, songwriting, sophistication, true art, writer, writing
January 18, 2015

Mis-shelved: Teen Edition

The sign reads “Teen Non-fiction”… I don’t know if I would consider Twilight to be non-fiction, but who am I to argue with Barnes and Noble?

Musings, Scribblings

Barnes and noble, Book, book shopping, bookstore, library, mis-shelved, Reading
January 9, 2015

Poetic Purpose: Why Meter Matters

“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” ~Edgar Allan Poe Aside from signing my friends’ yearbook with personalized limericks, I admit that I have little experience with poetry. However, I adore reading it, as it was meant to be read, aloud. I love the sounds of its rhymes, the flow of the lines,…

Musings

AP Literature, books, chopin, dance, edgar allan poe, hamlet, iambic pentameter, jazz, literature, love song, meter, Music, poem, poet, poetry, poets, rhythm, shakespeare, swing dance, waltz, writer
December 24, 2014

Everyday Miracles

There are two tales to this post, one leading into the other. This is what literature enthusiasts would call a “frame tale” structure, but let’s not clutter this post, intended to be sweet and heartwarming, with literary devices. Instead, let’s begin with the first story… It was nearly midnight, but my eyes, as usual, would…

Musings

Anne of Green Gables, beautiful, caroling, christmas, christmas cheer, christmas with anne, elderly, everyday miracles, heart-warming, holiday stories, L.M. Montgomery, literature, miracle, novel, service, singing, writing
December 13, 2014

The Bookworm’s Guide to the Galaxy: Understanding Readers

Most of my best friends are bookworms. We all have our favorite genres, authors, eras, you name it. We are an eclectic group of athletes, honors students, writers, artists, musicians, and gamers, yet we are united by books and our need for words. However, it has come to my attention that this is not how…

Musings

author, Book, books, bookstore, bookworm, character, Fiction, library, literature, non-reader, reader, relationships, story
December 11, 2014

The Necessity of the Reader: A Literary Criticism of Heart of Darkness

Modernist author Joseph Conrad once said that “of all men’s creations, books are the nearest to us for they contain our thoughts… they resemble us in their precious hold on life.” According to Conrad, books not only act as the vessels that preserve the themes of human life, but as mirrors that reflect the variations…

Literature

AP Literature, author, book review, books, classic literature, frame story, heart of darkness, imperialism, lit crit, literary criticism, literary gap, modernist, novella, reader, reader’s response, writing
November 27, 2014

NaNoWriMo Problem #5

Changing point of view halfway through. :/

Scribblings

author, Book, first draft, NaNoWriMo, novel, point of view, writing
November 16, 2014

Mis-shelved- somehow I never thought of Oscar Wilde as a children’s author…

Musings

Book, bookstore, bookworm, literature, Oscar Wilde